Pain Aside, Stars Are Glad To Be In Circus Act

December 9, 1986|By Jay Bobbin TRIBUNE TV LOG

Only one annual event could inspire celebrities to risk life and limb while acting as temporary circus performers.

CBS' yearly Circus of the Stars specials have become a December tradition, attracting new daredevils each time while also drawing back past participants to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for another round. The all-new 11th edition will be televised today at 9 p.m. on WCPX, with Dick Clark, Barbara Eden, Merv Griffin and Dionne Warwick filling the roles of ringmasters. They're literally on safe ground, though; the other talents are the ones who inspire the lip- biting and hand-wringing.

Among the courageous this time around is Entertainment Tonight's Mary Hart, who takes part in the event for the second consecutive year. She quickly has become an expert on the perils that such a stint can provide: She ended up tearing a calf during her tightrope performance last year -- and she wasn't immune from pain while working on the 1986 edition, either. While practicing a precision act on roller skates for the new show, Hart reports, ''My face was scaled a bit from doing a neck hang. I had to use a noose, and granted it was a velvet noose, so it was soft . . . but when you put all that pressure on your face and jaw, it rubs the tender skin there. My Entertainment Tonight co- host, John Tesh, nicknamed me 'Reptilicus.' ''

Despite less rehearsal time than last year, Hart's training still amounted to two hours a day over a six-week period. ''The worst part was the stretching, having to do splits after so many years. It was extremely painful, but it's a fun act and I'm glad I did it. Still, there were times when I just wanted to cry and go home.''

Though emotional and physical agony were involved, Hart would make real- life circus people quite proud: Proving herself a real trouper, she says she'd be willing to appear in a third Circus of the Stars if asked. ''This year,'' she said, ''I just didn't have as much time to devote to it, and that's why I had to take something that was less time-consuming. It was no easier, though.''